Method of preparation of toasted nut meats



METHOD OF PREPARATIDN or roaster NUT MEATS Joseph A. Zaloom; Rutherford N; J.-:

No Drawing.

Application December 6, 1950,

SeriaflNo. 199,556

. 7 Claims." (01. 99mm) The present invention relates to the processing of nut meats inorder to enhance their palatability and keeping qualities.

Asconducive to a clear understanding oflthe invention, it is noted tha'twhere they? are fried in fator' oil; whether or notthey be" also salted;-

operation; without-burning cramming, the nut nut meats may become soggy or'unpalatable'by penetration of the frying oil; autocatalytic oxi-v dation of the-fryingoiland-fat onor in the meats may 1ead to-rancidity of 'thenatural oil of the nut and thus render the meats unfit for human coir:

sumption; due to the substantial nutritional value of suchfryingfat or oil, the meats are rendered diilicult to-dig'est with likelihood of: heartburn, eructati'on and other systemic disturbance of the consumer} and the product greasy to thetouch antiunsatisfactory due to rapid accumulation of dust and germs as the oil coated meats are exposed toairl It is accordingly among the objects" ofthe invention to provide a method" of treating nut meats that will yield a properly toasted product which admits of flavoring the meats with-'dry salt without subsequent shedding of salt-therefrom,- whichaffords a product that retains the natural uncontaminated flavor of the nut;- and: is more palatable than' oil or fat-fried nut meats which provides a product dryto the touch and of enhanced l:eeping qualities; and which admits, i if desired;.ofincorporating-with the nut meats-auxiliary agents; such as fl'avoring, and does not materially enrich the natural food value oi the: nut

or promote such digestive disturbances' as may follow-the incorporation of: objectionable foreign matter such as fryingcoilawith the nut meat:

According to the: invention the product resulting from the present. invention: a toasted rather than a friedznut meat, to-the exterior of' which table salt in crystalline form; witlror with outauxiliary such as fiavoringsagent; is-securely bonded in amount adequateto afford thedesired seasoning, the bonding agency being a fi1mof edible adhesive which performs" the" additional function of closing the pores of the nut meats,

and thus hermetically'g'sealing the interior of the nut from the entry of moisture, dirt or other foreign agency that tends to-spoil the meat, as by rendering rancid the natural oils therein, and precluding lossby evaporation of volatile components of such natural oils, so that the-nut has greatly enhanced keeping qualities and remains crisp and fresh flavored even after long periods of storage."

According 'to the inventionthefmeats, such as those of "th'e'cashew; filb'ert'falm'ond, pecan, pi'stachio and Brazil nuts are first'toasted, desirably by tumblingthe, same in a revolving roaster of conventional type that may be heatedbyl a gas flame underfits cylinder;

In'o'rder to cushiofila'gainstLbreakage' and to assure uniformity of toastingin the tumbling meats are desirably mixed a suitable inert gra'nulair, heat transmitting agent that entompasses and separates the individualpieces ofnut meat amt distributes" the heat uniformly thereto.

'Ihisgranular agent may be sand'but is=prefer-y ablygranular table salt nd' dsirahly is of weight approximately equal 0*- that of the nutmeats being toasted, The tumbling operation=is desir'ablyconducted" a t a temperature and -for a ne riodof time sufficient to impart to menus the desired toastedfiavor'.'- In-pr'a'ctice atemperamre 0f 300 b0 350 degrees. is maintaind for D6 riod in" the order of' l5- t'o' 30 rhinutes' depending? l onthe amount-of moisture to be evaporated and the degree oi -toasting desired Generally, fifteen- 15) minutesoftoasting is adeduate Preferably the mass ofgranular salt is first raised to the desired tem erature or 300- 60-350 degrees F in the roaster- Before the nut rhea-ts are introduced and adi'nixed with the salt? so that each i-rldividilal iece of nut meat? is promptly and uniformly raised t'o the de ir'ed toasting temperature-by contact with th' I heated salt, and is niaintainedi at that--tefii1ira-- ture for the perimrhoted.

After the toasting operation has be'eh cam pleted, the -nut mats are removed from the roaster, desirably by pouringthe-same upbeamesh screenmay be s'haken to" cause the saltto 1 droptherefromandto be coueet'eu fol repeated re-use'? The cleannut meats? while still hot, are thereupom spra ed: with edible Y adhesive in solution and are agitated during the sprayingoperatiomto cause the solution tospr'ead uniformly over the entireiouter" surface of" the" nut meats. To'this end the meats mightbe dis tribute'dzupon revolving:pans andiagltated' a's-the I adhesive spray isiapplied thereto' A'ny suitable edible adhesive; such as for instance,--- edible shellac, dextrin gmmia'gari agar; carboxy methyl cellulose, methoxyrcellulosm'. ethox-y cellulose; or the like;;mayl be; used; but general it is: pres ferred to use a solutiomofzgum arabic', desira-bly of one part of gumarabicrto-three partsof water.

Preferably the gum ;arabic solution is applied inamountLofthe order of one percent-- by Weight ,very thin coating filmof theadhesive. Byreav 60 approximately" l to'2;;prrerabiy iis e son of the relatively; high viscosity of the gum arabic solution, that film will not-enter the pores of the-nut to any appreciable degree but will remain upon the nut-meats essentially as an outer or covering, film which slightly moistens? the surface onlyofthe nutmeats; q a he pe rthe: nu meanwhi e sti hot l moist, are sprinkled. with p urev table salt-. In

practice an amount of 'saltis ordinarily t the 'weight'or thenut'meatsbir'ig treated. Th

salt is sprinkled upon the hot adhesive filmed nut meats, while these are agitated (desirably upon the same revolving pans used for applying adhesive to the meats) so that the salt will spread fairly uniformly upon their surfaces and the film of still moist adhesive intervening between the meat and the salt, will causeadhesion therebetween. Upon cooling of the nut meats, the adhesive film dries and securely bonds the salt crystals to the nut meats, which are now ready for packaging and sale.

, For best results, it is desirable'to effectthe cooling rather rapidly, as the flavor may be adversely affected if the nuts are kept hot for too long a period. Accordingly, it is'preferred to place the hot treated nuts upon a perforated metal platform over an air duct to which suction is applied for drawing cooling air through the mass of nut meats, w

If desired, there may be incorporated upon the nut meats with he solution of theadhesive,

soluble desirable preservatives, flavoring extracts would romote sogeinessor spoilage of the nuts or rancidity of its natural oil. That film also prevents escape of the more or less volatile components of the meats. Accordingly the nut meats will remain fresh flavored, crisp and palatable even after long exposure. The nut meats thus treated are dry to the touch and therefore easy to handle and not subjectto the adhesion of dust thereon. v t i The gum arabic adhesive is a Dentosan not accepted by the hu nan organism as a food product, so that its incorporation uponthe nut meat for the two purposes noted, namely to seal the pores and tobond the salt. thereto, doesnot in any wise enhance ndetract from the food value of the nut. I

As many changes .couldibemade 1'11 theabove method, and manyapparently. widely different embodiments offthisinvention could bemade without departing fromthescope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in.the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described. my invention, what I.

claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is;

1. The method of treating nut meats which comprises the following steps: tumbling the meats in a granular heat transmitting medium until the same are toasted,-separating the meats -from the granular medium, spraying upon the hot meats a thin surface coat of edible adhesive and while such adhesive is still moist, applying to the nut meats dry table salt in such amount as will adhere to the nut meats and become bonded thereto when the adhesive has dried.

2. The method of treating nut meats which comprises tumbling the same at temperature and for a period of time sufficient to toast the meats to the desired extent, spraying the hot nut meats with sufficient edible adhesive'in solution slightly to moisten the surface of the nut meats, and

while the surface of the nut meats is still moist applying thereto crystals of table salt in such amount as will adhere to the meats, and thereupon causing the adhesive to dry. I

3. The method of treating nut meats which comprises tumbling the same in table salt at a temperature of 300 to 350 degrees F. for a period in'the order of 15 to 30 minutes depending on the degree of resultant toasting of the nut meats desired, separating the toasted nut meats from the salt, spraying upon the toasted nut meats a smallamount of edible adhesive solution sufiicient to moisten the surface of the nut meats, and sprinkling upon the meats dry table salt with resultant adhesion of salt to the meats, and bonding of the same to the meats upon drying.

4. The method of treating nut meats which comprises tumbling the same in approximately an equal amount by weight of table salt, while maintaining the same heated to a temperature and for a period of time sufficient to toast the nut meats to the desired extent, separating the nut meats from the salt and while still hot applying thereto gum arabic solution in the order of one per cent by weight of the meats while agitating the same to effect a thin distributed surface film of such solution upon the meats and while the meats are still hot and the gum arabic solution is still moist, sprinkling thereon dry table salt for adhesion to the meats and adhesive bond thereof u-pon drying of the film.

5. The combination recited in claim 4 in which the table salt is sprinkled upon the toasted meats in amount approximately 50 per cent greater than the amount of gum arabic solution used.

6. The combination recited in claim 4 in which the hot meats are finally cooled by drawing air therethrough, with resultant hardening and drying of the adhesive.

7. The method of treating nut meats which comprises heating a mass of dry table salt to a temperature of 300 to 350 degrees F., introducing into the salt mass, nut meats in amount by weight substantially equal to that of the salt, tumbling the nut meats in the salt for a period in the order of fifteen minutes until the nuts have been toasted toflthedesired extent, separating the meats from thesalt, spraying upon and distributingv over the surface of the meats, gum arabic solution in amount approximately one per cent byweight. of .the nut meats and consisting of approximately one part of gum arabic to three parts of .water, and sprinkling upon the nut meats while still hot, pure table salt in amount approximately 1 /2 per cent that of the weight of the meats, and thereupon drawing cool air through the meats to abstract heat therefrom and promptly todry the adhesive coating.

JOSEPH A. ZALOOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

OTHER REFERENCES Effect of Monosodium Glutamate on Taste of Pure Sucrose and Sodium Chloride," E. E. Lockhart and Jean Murray Gainer, Food Technology, vol. 15, #6, Nov.-Dec., 1950, pp. 459-464. 

